uortoh



Sheetik-S- J. Roman.

Tbrpedo.

Patented Aug. 8

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. NORTON. I

r Torpedo. No. 11,508. Y Patented Aug-8, 1854.

per, linen, or other suitable material, water- STATES JOHN NORTON, (ll

PATENT Clarice;

Conn. i IRELAND.

lMPROVEMENT lNEsLASTlNG eocmruussa, are.

s ecification forming part of Ileltets Patent No; 5 L505, ated August 8. lr fsl.

1% /l 20/20/21; if. may concern: i Be it, known that 1, Jnflx Kenton, 0.Cork,

in the county of orlglreland,esquire; captain, late oi llerhlaj est sTliirty-Fou rtli Foot, have invented certain Improvements in Blasting, applicable to the blasting of rocks and'of timber for the clearing of land and to other purposes; and 1 do hereby declare that the following spcci-lieati'on and accompanying drawings constil ate a full and exact description thereof. The nature of my invention consists, first, in a method ol igniting a blasting-charge by what 1 denominate a frictional 00rd, constructed as hereinafter described. and coin hined with luciler composition or other inll'annnable material; and, secondly, in the use or employment of a safety bridle-guard to prevent accidental discharge, constructed as hereimtl'ter described.

ll use percussioncartridges or tubes charged with i'ullninating'rmercury or other highly-ex plosire compound, which'are introduced into holes bored .in the rock or other substance to be blasted or ruptured, in lien of an ordinary charge ol'gnnpowder, and are ignited by per-- mission instead of a fuse, as practiced when blasting with gunpowder.

The manner iii which 1 prepare my percussion-cartridge is shown in Figures 1 and 2, 5 and 6, of the drawings hereunto annexed, Fig.

irig inserted in its place, the casing must be filled with fulininating mercury or other highlyexplosive compound. The pin and upper plug must then be inserted and the easing fastened round orover the plug. When the cartridge is about to be used, all-ole in the bored out and t-he'cartridge inserted therein.

the blasting compounds efi'ected.

The mode in which this improved cartridge is employed in the blasting of timber for clearing land is substantially as follow A triangle is made of three tall spars placed over the root to be blasted, a hole being bored by an auger an inch and aquarter in diameter into the most gnarled part of the root. A'gouge-rimer is good to use after anger, as it cleans away the rough interior and admits the cartridgefreelyI About'three inches deeper than the center a plug of iron of the same diameter of the auger and an inch and a half long, or asmall round stone, is forced into the bottom of the hole, so-as to prove a solidl'oundation. A rammer'ofiron of nearly thesame diameteras the auger, about four inches longer than the cap will be detonated and the discharge of 1. being 'an external elevation, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal section, and Figs. 5 and (3 del'ttllS. I v

A is aplug of wood or metal, which forms the base of the cartridge, and to which thethincylindrieal metal casing 3 is attached. This casing may, however, be formed of pa proofed by a coating of caoutch ouc or gottathe depth ofthe hole, so .as to project about four inches, is then inserted, and may or may .not rest on the head of the cartridge. A block ofwood or other material of about sixty pounds .weight,suspended by a strong cord vertically over the projecting head of the rammen is I then allowed to. fall on it, when, by the momentuin or blow, the explosion takes place, and in no one instance has the rammer been blown out, or, as military engineers term it,

gunning occurred rock. orother substance to be blasted must be Upon the top of the cartridge-a bar of mdtalor wood is placed, and by striking the end of- .the barwhich projects? from the hole bored- 

